As The Phoenix Rises
by ThatOtherRainbowEnd
Summary: It is true that in every disaster there is a premonition. That is Death's way to have fun. It is up to those who receive the premonition should they act upon them or simply brush them aside. If they wish to act upon it, however, the game of Death starts and the fun begins.
1. It All Begins with a Premonition

**A/N: All this is purely fictional. The author is not aware if the people's mentioned in the story opinion is what their opinion truly is. Eloise Taylor and Addison Black (the aliases of That Other Rainbow End) only used names, not personalities.**

**ALSO: Chapter 1 was edited once more, for I thought that the story would be better off with them as high school seniors rather than freshmen. Enjoy**

* * *

FD Chapter 1: It All Begins with a Premonition

It is true that in every disaster there is a premonition. That is Death's way to have fun. It is up to those who receive the premonition should they act upon them or simply brush them aside. If they wish to act upon it, however, the game of Death starts and the fun begins.

This disaster took place on a mountain road where there were one-hundred seniors divided equally into five buses that can hold twenty-five passengers with two teachers occupying a seat each, so in total, there were one hundred fifteen people. The road wounded up the mountain, which was covered with trees and forests.

For the premonition, Death chose a simple-minded senior who played baseball for Hillcrest Valley High School, Michael. He had light brown hair, and a very broken arm after a baseball accident that happened the week before. His mother tried to persuade him to stay and not go on the huge field trip almost every senior was going to, but stubbornness, a trait Death absolutely loves, lead him to go on the trip.

The two teachers in the bus were Mrs. Amy Weimer, and Ms. Tamara Marshall. They had to watch over twenty teenagers, including Mrs. Weimer's own son, Matthew.

Matthew sat next to Michael.

Matthew was like Michael in many ways. Their mothers were Asian, Chinese and Japanese respectively. They both parted their hair the same way. Both had brown eyes, the other with a darker shade. They also celebrated their birthday right after each other's. October 8 was Matthew's while October 7 was Michael's. They were the best of friends, which is probably why they sat next to each other in every class they had.

Across from them sat Chloe Collins, who was the interest of Matthew. He had been eyeing the class secretary, Chloe Collins since they first met. Chloe was a big-boned girl. She had black shoulder-length hair and wore glasses. The tips were dyed pink, even though it was against school policy. It made Michael wonder what was so special about her.

Beside her sat Isabelle Sharpe. And her last name was a true testament to her wit. Sharp as a needle when it comes to books, as well as street, she was the top of the class. Though not known if she could sing, she has had many other talents, such as dance, athletics and academics. She had blondish brown shoulder length hair and a very freckled face.

Behind Matthew and Michael sat Grant Font. He was boy who was short for his age, shorter than girls even. But what he lacked in height he made up in martial arts. He had brown hair, much like Michael's but a bit darker.

His seat mate was long-time crush Savannah Boehmer. She sat next to him so she could sit across her two best-friends. She was very well-known for her singing voice, which was very excellent. If the Hillcrest Valley High School's talent show was a singing competition, she would have definitely won. Aside from her voice, what helped attract Grant to her was her attractiveness. The voice just added to the appeal, and so did the fact that she was a dancer.

Behind them were two of the most peculiar girls in Hillcrest Valley High, Zoe Amba and Erica Piar. They weren't the strangest, but they were definitely among the top.

Zoe was a nervous wreck. One sniff was all it took to make Zoe think the air was poisoned. She had nervous breakdowns almost every day. And if she wasn't hyperventilating, she would be working too much on an injury of someone's, like how she kept tending to Michael's injury with various first-aid tools, right before the field trip. She was also the next-door neighbor of the Weimers.

Erica was a kleptomaniac. Everything she had in her backpack was said to not be hers. On the bus, they were allowed to sit next to anyone, so she was forced to sit next to Zoe, who was not really picky with her seat mates or next to that weird girl whose name nobody remembers.

Lastly, sitting with Mrs. Weimer and Ms. Marshall in the back seat was Roger Hayes, commonly known as RJ among his peers. The reason he sat there with the two teachers was because, though he qualified to go to the field trip, he was a troublemaker, often bothering the other students with sarcastic remarks and snarky comebacks.

Mrs. Weimer, taking into consideration the fact that they were moving at slow speed, she decided to entertain the students. "Who knows the song, As the Phoenix Rises?"

Savannah and weird girl both raised their hand, but the students who were interested urged Savannah to sing instead.

"As the Phoenix rises  
Rises from the dust,  
It soars high among the mountain  
Far from the earth's crust

Gently does it land  
On the tall sycamore  
As a feather drops  
Onto the forest floor

Some lucky one will find it  
And hear the Phoenix cry  
For the feather is the fire bird's  
It is his for life

The lucky loves its cry  
And he will soon long for it  
So to hear the Phoenix weeping  
He keeps what is not his

Then out of despair  
The Phoenix turns to ash  
Then the pretty bird  
Will relive his past"

As the Phoenix Rises was an old nursery song about the story of a Phoenix as it loses its feather. The feather is then found and taken by someone, just to hear the Phoenix in its misery. Driven into depression, the Phoenix dies. It was eerie and very pessimistic for a children's song. And it was a personal favorite of Death.

The students unenthusiastically clapped for Savannah, who in turn muttered about ungrateful crowds. She leaned over to Matthew and Michael's seats, and said, "Matt, did your mom really have to choose that creepy song?" Her reply came to her as a shrug.

Michael on the other hand replied, "Did you have to sing it?" to which Savannah replied with a slap.

From two seats over, Michael could hear Zoe's loud "whisper." "Do you smell that?" She worriedly said to Erica. "Maybe it's an overload of Argon. Does it have proper ventilation? Now it's starting to smell like a gasoline. I think it's a gas leak. Does anyone realize how dangerous a gas leak when it comes to a bus full of teenagers using cellphones here and there? A spark could happen and the whole bus could explode, catch on fire, and get the other buses on fire. That's one hundred and fifteen people, five drivers, ten teachers and a hundred teenagers. Those teens are seventeen, eighteen and nineteen year olds."

"Shut it!" Savannah yelled. Zoe bit her lip, and started thinking of various ways the gas leak could kill them all. Suddenly she gave Savannah a cold stare.

"If we all die, I'm glad you're going down with me. Everyone here, who thinks I'm crazy or that I over react to the simplest of things, is going to go down with me." She laughed eerily as Mrs. Weimer tried to settle the bus down.

Once everyone got settled down, a gust of wind blew on Michael. That was Death. Death has no particular gender, since Death takes over anything and anyone in order to claim souls. Simply put, an ominous wind that comes from nowhere and a shadow from no source in particular is a way of knowing that Death has taken over someone or something. And that Death is coming. Every murder victim will feel these before the murderer takes them, but no premonition occurs to them. Premonitions only happen in large scale disasters, those that would look like accidents instead of arson or terrorist attacks because there is a larger chance of survivors cheating death.

"Did you feel that?" He asked Matthew, who in turn gave him a weird look.

"Are you really going to be like that, Michael? Are you seriously going to be like Zoe, the nervous wreck?" Michael gave Matthew a weird look this time. "What, we're in a school thing. No one needs to know that Zoe is actually a pretty okay girl when she's not being a nervous wreck from me."

"I'm just saying I think something wrong is going to happen."

A spark came from one of Savannah's friends' cellphone, signaling to Michael that Zoe was right. Within seconds, Chloe started coughing up because the explosion and fire that Zoe was non-stop talking about came true. The explosion was small enough that it did not hurt more than Savannah's friends, but it did cause the bus to go on fire.

"Everyone go to the emergency exit!" Miss Marshall yelled as she signaled the teenagers to go for the exit. But the fire spread quickly, thus blocking ways to get out and setting the other buses on fire. Death sometimes, just to claim lives, bends the rules of nature that apply to us.

The fire also quickly spread to the forest. After Chloe died, burning, the next casualty that Michael saw was Roger, who managed to escape, but on the wrong side of the bus. He fell right down the mountain. The fire had reached the trees, causing them to fall onto the bus. That is when Michael saw his best friend die right in front of him, crushed by the tall sycamore. There was no time for him to register what had just happened. Erica came up to him and tried to exit the bus with him.

Savannah who had caught on fire, just jumped out of a window, giving the two a chance to escape. Erica and Michael stood for a moment after jumping out of the bus, staring at Savannah's burning soon-to-be corpse. The "it" girl of Hillcrest Valley High School was merely shriveling up into nothingness by a burning fire. No time could be wasted at this point; those seconds could mean the difference between life and death.

It had become apparent to the pair of Erica and Michael that only a few people had followed them out of the bus, Zoe, Grant, Isabelle, and Mrs. Weimer. A girl from the bus behind them, Teyah Hulsey cried out for help. That was the bus where Matthew's father, a math teacher at the high school, was assigned. Out of mercy and pity, Zoe tried to help, but to no avail. Instead it was she who needed the help next. The bus tipped over, crushing Zoe with its weight. As it fell, Mr. Weimer's corpse got out, shocking the remaining students, and his wife.

They continued to run away from the carnage, with Mrs. Weimer leading. It came to a point where the students were surrounded by a ring of fire, Mrs. Weimer narrowly escaping the ring. She tried to reach over to them, but the fire was too deadly to cross. In a panic, Grant pushed Isabelle into the fire. Michael and Erica stood in shock, slowly backing far away from Grant. He now was going towards them, with one thing on his mind, pushing them into the fire. But a sycamore crushed him like how Matthew was crushed. The burning tree made the ring smaller. Another sycamore fell, but Erica and Michael backed away before it could hit them. Sadly, Erica backed away too far and ended up burning in the flames.

Now there was a small moment where Michael realized that that was the end. There would be nothing he could do about it. He could be crushed by the weight of the sycamore that would fall any moment now. Or he could be engulfed by the flames in a slow and agonizing death. He had a choice, but not the one he wanted. He could not choose between life and death. He could only choose if he were to be crushed or burnt to death. And even that was a choice he couldn't decide on.

And then he woke up.

* * *

Déjà vu occurred to Michael. Mrs. Weimer had asked someone to sing 'As the Phoenix Rises.' Savannah sung it, and subsequently slapped Michael. It was then when Michael stood up and yelled, "We have to leave the bus now. We're all going to die!"

Everyone looked to him as if he were crazy; a look reserved for Zoe and weird girl most of the time. Zoe ran to him and said, "I knew it!"

Michael grabbed Matthew and started running out of the bus. Zoe and Erica quickly followed, along with Grant, Isabelle, Chloe, and Savannah. Mrs. Weimer followed along as well since they had to be brought back to the bus. She brought with her Roger since she pitied Ms. Marshall. They ran deep into the forest, not looking back.

"Students, please go to the bus now." Mrs. Weimer said as she stopped the students from walking any further.

"No, Mrs. Weimer. If we go back, the bus will catch on fire. We will die with it." Michael replied back. Zoe looked at him, as if he were insane.

"Then we have to save the other students, if that's what's going to happen to them." Michael shook his head and grabbed onto the girl's shoulders.

"You died trying to help them, Zoe. Help yourself and don't go after them."

"Wait a minute," piped in the logical Isabelle. "How do you know that will happen?" Logic always overcomes most things. However, it does not overcome death.

Michael took a deep breath and explained most of what he saw. As he finished, as if on cue, a blaze could be seen coming from the buses. The teens watched helplessly, and if one of them tried to help, someone would stop them from going. The forest soon filled with smoke and the group started running even further. When they had reached a point where they couldn't run anymore, there were only nine of them left.

"Where's Chloe?"

Chloe was trailing slowly behind them, clutching on to her chest while coughing up blood, violently. Soon internal organs came out and she collapsed to the ground, dead.

"Are we going to die now?" Erica said ominously as they stared at the bloody face. They wanted the answer to be no, but Death would prove otherwise.

* * *

**A/N: Please review. It would be nice to hear from you guys. And yes, I am fully aware that it probably isn't possible that coughing out internal organs is improbable and unlikely. But Death doesn't care. And don't let the name fool you, I could get really demented at times. I'll see you at my end of the Rainbow**

**~Addie and Elle**


	2. And Then the Fun Begins

**A/N: I seriously don't own this franchise.**

* * *

Chapter 2: And Then the Fun Begins

"Dearly beloved," almost every wedding and funeral starts with that. Ironically, one celebrates the joining of two lives to become one, and the other mourns a loss. Everyone in the town of Hillcrest Valley was in attendance of the mass funeral of the Hillcrest High field trip incident. Chloe Collins had a different funeral since she did not die in the carnage per say. No casket was seen, only the pictures of the many people who died

In the crowd were the nine survivors. And as a matter of fact, they were in the front row. The images of the deceased students and staff seemed to look at them with pleading eyes. Those were the faces of beloved teachers, loyal friends and many freshmen students who had died before they should have, of those who could have been saved. Instead, people who felt like they were unworthy to be the ones sitting there had cheated Death.

Every picture however, also gave them a different perspective to look at. In her frame, weird girl, whose name was actually Addison Elle Lark, looked lively and vivacious in a very bright summer get-up, as oppose to her depressed usual self as she reads her very large Victor Hugo novel, Les Miserables.

Michael, who sat in between Matthew and Isabelle, silently whispered to himself. "I wonder if Addison's parents ever knew that we'd forget her name." Apparently, his whisper was loud enough to be heard by Isabelle, who in return slapped the back of his head due to the disrespectful comment.

"Michael," she said clearly annoyed. "She's dead. Have you no respect for the deceased."

It was at that point Matthew decided to join in. "She has a point." He said a bit to eagerly, as if eager to impress. Matthew was often like this when in a state of loss, more so towards Chloe, but it was his defense mechanism. Michael began to notice it when the Weimer's dog died. He began trying to impress their third grade teacher much too eagerly. Then with every loss they had, he'd eventually revert to being in this state.

"Jeeze, it's a defense mechanism." He said, truthfully yet defensively, causing Isabelle to imagine that he was lying. Though, no one has no defense mechanism.. When distressed, Isabelle sew and knitted. She in fact sew the dress she wore when she failed a very important test.

"If anyone should be defensive, it's Matthew." Zoe, who sat next to Isabelle, piped in. Again, logically speaking Matthew and Mrs. Weimer have the right to be defensive.

"Will you guys just shut up?" said RJ loudly, attracting attention to the survivors. All eyes were on them, even the speaker, Hillcrest Valley High's principal, stopped to look at the group.

"Nice going, Einstein," muttered Erica, who had nothing to do with what the teens were doing, but was dragged into it because she sat with them.

"Hey, Kleptofreak, shut up." Grant nudged her. That comment resulted in him getting a subtle kick to the shin. He yelped in pain, causing more people to stare at them.

Savannah, however, never seemed to notice the staring as she was too focused on her make-up. She was the only one who remained unfazed by the sudden attention given to the nine survivors. Mrs. Weimer on the other hand was trying hard not to let the stares get to her.

After the funeral, Matthew, Michael and Grant all walked away from the crowd, relieved that the awkwardness was finally over. Originally, it would just be the two, however, Grant tagged along since all his friends were killed in the explosion. The girls had stayed with Mrs. Weimer, who was crying her eyes out due to losing her husband. After a while, Zoe joined the boys after they had reached a quarter of a mile from where they started.

"How're you, Matthew?" She asked with a calm face, the very first time most people have seen her not panicking. "I wanted to go after them, all of them. Really, I did."

Grant leaned towards Michael, distancing himself from Matthew and Zoe. "She's not freaking out." He whispered to him when he thought we was out of ear shot.

"I can hear you." Zoe said calmly, once more shocking Grant.

"She's not usually a nervous wreck when out of school." Matthew came to her rescue, making Zoe smile. "Really, she's a mystery."

"That's the best compliment I have ever received from you." Zoe said to him, then turned to Grant. "I tell you, my nervousness has a reason. If we're not careful enough, we end up dying in flames, no offense Matt. But no matter how careful I was, people still died."

"If we're too careful, we miss out on life itself," said someone from behind the group. A man, dark-skinned and wearing a tux, came up to the four. "I know what you're thinking, who am I?"

"Actually," Grant said with a grimace, "I was leaning more towards why you're there." Zoe nudged him and watched as the man went to Michael.

"You cheated Death, now he's mad." He said pointing to Michael, then slowly went down the group to Grant, Zoe, then Matthew. "But he now gets to play his game. And so do you."

"You're crazy." Grant said as he tried to leave, but Michael stopped him.

"Hey, short stack, hold on." He said as he pulled Grant by the arm. "What do you mean, sir?"

"Call me Bludworth, young man." He said with an eerie laugh at the end. Zoe clutched on to Matthew's arm in fear and took one step back, wanting to run away from where they were. "Unless you plan on running from Death, you're all going to die."

"I don't want to die." Zoe whimpered as her grip on Matthew's arm grew tighter and tighter with each breath she heaved.

"I know you don't, young lady, but there are ways to stay alive." All four of them perked up as he said this. This proved to Mr. Bludworth that they were as desperate to win the game as much as Death was. "Kill someone, you take their remaining life-span. Or new life, someone who was meant to die gives birth. Hopefully, you resort to neither."

"Listen, sir, why scare us teens with that?" Matthew asked, holding Zoe protectively. "Come on guys, let's go."

And then came his infamous words, "You all just be careful now."

* * *

Zoe walked with Matthew, who had refused to ride with his mother back home as his house was a mere thirty minute walk away, and Zoe's being less than that from the cemetery. Michael had tagged along with Matthew and Erica, Zoe. Isabelle and Grant had ridden home together, since Isabelle's parents were out of town and their house was on the way. It was unknown to the four how Savannah and Roger went home.

It was fall, and the leaves of various shades of red were scattered on the pavement, causing a crunch sound after every step they took. The wind blew on them, and Michael shuddered each time, remembering how the wind blew on him when the fire happened. The sky was turning into an orange hue with a bit of blue still left over. The overall environment was relaxing. Michael realized this was the first true time he was spending with the Kleptomaniac.

Michael studied Erica, front to back, trying to locate any hiding places on her person, (all he could figure out were her under-bottoms as his mother called them, and her bra, the latter being the more probable.) Then he chanced upon her eyes, which were staring down as she listened to Zoe talk about Corpus Citrus, more commonly called the Dead Orange and most commonly called that mushy orange thing that the science teachers bring out twice in the school year. They were blue, but had a bit of green to them and they were wide as well. Michael then noticed the wrinkles that surrounded her eyes every time she smiled.

She enjoyed Corpus Citrus, thought Michael, remembering what he had learned from fake smiles. She genuinely enjoyed talking about a soon-to-be extinct plant that only can survive in extreme temperatures (thus being placed in a below zero freezer.)

"Well," Erica said as they reached an intersecting road. "This is my road, I've a lot of walking to do. Bye Zoe, Zoe's neighbor, and Zoe's neighbor's friend." She waved good bye and as she turned around the boys patted their pockets and checked their wallets.

"She didn't steal anything from you guys." Zoe said as she stopped the boys from checking their belongings. "You guys could be so insensitive."

"She's a kleptomaniac, Zoe." Michael said. The girl simply rolled her eyes and went ahead of the boys. As she turned to her house, Michael continued to talk and walk with Matthew. "Is Erica her best friend?"

"No." Matthew said squarely. "Her best friend died, Teyah Hulsey." A pang of guilt hit Michael like a blow to the gut. He never really lost anyone. Only he out of all the baseball team was eligible to go, and he was able to save his best friend.

Isabelle lost Chloe and a bunch of other friends. Savannah lost her two air-headed friends. Roger lost a friend apparently who Mr. Weimer was sitting with in their bus. Grant lost friends, Zoe and Erica too. Zoe lost her best friend. But Matthew had it worst of all. He lost a dad for crying out loud. But he didn't lose anyone. Sure he lost classmates that have had an impact on him, but his only true friends were Matthew and the baseball team.

"You want to come in?" Matthew broke his train of thought as they reached his house. "Mom's baking and Zoe's probably going to hop the fence." With her being the next door neighbor, she often visited Matthew when he was out in the backyard. His parents didn't mind since she was a nice kid. Again, a bit of a nervous wreck, but all in all, she was nice.

Michael nodded and entered the Weimer household. The smell of flour and sugar lingered in the air and the door to the backyard was wide open. The two walked through the main hall, Matthew avoiding turning his head to see the family pictures. His mom sat outside, waiting with a tray full of cookies. "There's another batch in the oven, I baked these before we went. Hello, Michael."

"Hello, ma'am." He returned her greeting. Just then, Zoe popped out from behind the fence and asked if she could hop on over. It was a mere formality really. She only hopped over when Matthew was out. Never did she want to go over when Matthew wasn't there. So, she was welcome to come over, didn't have to ask.

"Of course you can." Mrs. Weimer said, a little too gloomily for anyone's taste.

Zoe wasn't dressed in the dress she wore earlier. She wore simple jeans and a t-shirt that read out "Little Miss Broadway." Her jeans and shoes became a bit muddy after the jump. This reminded the two boys that they were still dressed formally.

"Listen, mom, I'm going to change." Matthew said as he grabbed onto Michael's shoulder. "You could borrow a shirt from me dude."

As the two boys disappeared into the house, Zoe sat with Mrs. Weimer and grabbed a cookie from the tray. "You're cookies are amazing, Mrs. Weimer." She said after taking one bite.

"Thank you." Mrs. Weimer said. "Listen, I don't want to sound horrible," that always came before a statement that would make the person sound horrible, "but that Chloe girl always got on my last nerve. And hopefully Matt'll get over her, now that she's, you know, dead."

"How so?" Pondered the younger girl. She knew Chloe got on a lot of people's nerve, but for different reasons. Chloe always got on Zoe's last nerve.

"Her disregard for school rules, that would be reason number one. Number two would be that she thinks all her teachers love her." She thinks everyone loves her. Zoe thought solemnly as Mrs. Weimer passed her a bottle of orange juice. Zoe was never the one to drink soda. "My Matthew would be better off with a girl like you."

Zoe's mouth formed into an o but she quickly brought herself together as the two boys went into the backyard. She had to stifle a laugh as Michael went out with a plain t-shirt but formal tuxedo pants. "You look stupid, Michael."

"Look who's talking little miss Broadway." Michael snarled back. "It's getting late. Shouldn't you be hopping the fence by now?"

"Michael, you live further away than me. Shouldn't you?" Zoe snapped but did in fact hop back. Mrs. Weimer yelled a good bye and said to Michael.

"Well, it's true. I'll drive you home. Matt, hop over the fence and stay with Zoe for awhile. I know she's still in her backyard."

* * *

Grant knocked on the door furiously hard waiting for Isabelle to open. When Isabelle opened the door, she gave him a curious look to why he was there at nine in the morning on a weekend.

"Isabelle, we need to talk."

* * *

_Earlier that day:_

RJ stood atop his roof, trying to get a glance at his backdoor neighbor's bathroom. He had with him binoculars, a camera, and some water. As he spotted his neighbor get into the bathtub and not close the curtain, he brought out his camera and started taking pictures. After awhile, his water spilled, he stood up and cussed. His binoculars fell as well now. And now his camera. As he leaned over, a gust of wind blew on a not particularly windy day, and a shadow came over him from no source.

The water made him slip off the roof, only to grab on for a short notice. On account of it being five in the morning, his parents who sleep with earplugs couldn't hear him. He yelled and yelled, but no one seemed to hear him. The edge of the gutter he hung on to was getting slippery. Roger couldn't tell if it was the water that had made it slippery or his sweaty palms.

Then Roger realized he could probably let go. It wouldn't be that bad after all. All he'll get are a few scratches, possibly a broken leg, but what harm will that do.

He let go.

* * *

"What do you mean, we're going to die?" Isabelle asked in shock. Creativity was a downside to being logical. You couldn't imagine much. So imagining that Death was coming after all of the survivors was really hard for Isabelle. "It's illogical."

"Chloe died right after we escaped. She coughed out her organs right in front of us." Grant yelled as he grabbed the girl by her shoulders and shook her vigorously. "The things that we've witnessed have been illogical! Michael having that vision. And-" His phone rang. "Hold on."

He answered his phone with his usual hello. Then replied with, "I see," "no," and "yes" a couple of times. By the end of the phone call, Grant looked very disturbed.

"See, RJ's dead now too." Grant told Isabelle. "He survived the accident."

"They're probably mere coincidences, rubbish. I doubt that RJ's dead anyway." Isabelle turn around after her dismissive statement. "Besides, why tell me? Why not tell one of the other boys? Or Savannah?"

"You lived the closest to me. If you don't believe me, then get dressed."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you why. We're going to get on our bikes, get Matthew, Michael and Savannah. And we're going to see RJ's body at the morgue." With that Isabelle rolled her eyes, but just to humor Grant, she went up to her room to get dressed.

* * *

**A/N: RJ is dead. Death is after them all. Ha. Leave Reviews Follow and Fave please. See you at my end of the rainbow. And I just realized that Michael's last name hasn't been mentioned. It's Iwai for future references.  
**


End file.
